Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty has reportedly said Microsoft needs smaller games that will earn it «prestige and awards» a day after shutting down Tango Gameworks.
02.05.2024 - 15:51 / ign.com / Ryan Dinsdale
The boss of Level-5, the developer behind family friendly titles such as Professor Layton, Ni No Kuni, and Yokai Watch, wants to create a violent and erotic video game one day.
Speaking to Denfaminico Gamer, translated by Automaton, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino said it's his responsibility to keep making friendlier games for the studio, but he also has a "dark abnormal world" inside of him.
"If I were to put it in extreme terms, I would go as far as to say that I want to make things like erotic games and 18+ games with violence," Hino laughed. "There’s an abnormal world inside of me, but I’m trying not to go there, only making things from the righteous part of my mind instead. However, deep down, I really want to visit that abnormal world."
That's not to say Level-5 games lack darker elements, as the yokai in Yokai Watch are ghosts and demons from Japanese mythology, and Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch reaches some fairly dark story beats.
But Hino seemingly wants to bring these elements to the surface, and despite Level-5's current approach to game development, he thinks he'll do so one day. "I want to go to that dark, abnormal world, and I think I will definitely end up doing so," Hino said. "Once I feel that Level-5 is stable, and I have the room to make what I want, I will do it."
Level-5 is also responsible for the Inazuma Eleven and Fantasy Life franchises and has a game in each due out in 2024. It's also working on two new IPs, DecaPolice and Ushiro, alongside Professor Layton and The New World of Steam, the series' first on Nintendo Switch.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty has reportedly said Microsoft needs smaller games that will earn it «prestige and awards» a day after shutting down Tango Gameworks.
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In one of the most double-think statements ever made outside of George Orwell’s 1984, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty has told employees that “We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards,” just one day after closing down the game studio that was responsible for the prestigious award-winning game, Hi-Fi Rush.
One day after closing Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, Xbox studios boss Matt Booty reportedly told staff the company needs “smaller games that give us prestige and awards”.
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